The Cumbre Vieja volcano, which erupted eight days ago on the Spanish island of La Palma, began to spit ash again this Monday at midday after a few hours of calm while the inhabitants of several neighborhoods were confined in because of the fears of emanation of toxic gases that could cause the arrival of the lava flows in the sea.

Posting on Twitter two photos of a high plume of black smoke rising above the crater accompanied by the caption "images of ash emissions observed in recent hours", the Volcanological Institute of the Canaries (Involcan), archipelago of which makes La Palma party, confirmed that the volcano was again spitting “ash for the moment”.

In the morning, the volcano had stopped spitting lava, ash and smoke for a few hours, and the sky was surprisingly clear over the island.

Decrease in volcanic activity

The volcano has known “for some time now an alternation of expulsion jets (lava and volcanic material) and pauses,” explained David Calvo, of Involcan.

Despite the resumption of the lava flow, however, he confirmed overall a "decrease in activity compared to the previous days".

A finding also established by the Institute of Geosciences of Madrid which mentioned an activity of the volcano "significantly reduced in recent hours" by publishing a graph showing a red curve descending sharply.

But "we must remain very attentive to its evolution because the scenario can change very quickly", added this institute.

Sea lava encounter

The inhabitants of several districts of a town on the island have also been confined because of fears of the emanation of toxic gases that could cause the arrival in the sea of ​​lava. The authorities "ordered the confinement (of the districts) of San Borondon, Marina Alta, Marina Baja and La Condesa" to Tazacorte, "the lava being likely to reach the sea in the coming hours" at the level of this municipality and of cause the emanation of "gases harmful to health", the emergency services of the Canaries said on Twitter.

"The population will have to follow the instructions of the authorities and stay at home, doors and windows closed, until the situation is assessed," they continued.

The meeting between the lava and the sea, initially planned at the beginning of last week and delayed due to the slowing of the flows, is feared because of the emission of toxic gases that it could cause on this island of 85,000 inhabitants.

No victim for the moment

On Sunday evening, the lava was 1.6 km from the coast and was advancing at a speed of about 100 m / hour, according to the authorities.

At La Palma airport, shut down on Saturday due to an accumulation of ash, several flights were canceled Monday morning but traffic was about to restart, the Canary Islands-based airline Binter having announced on Twitter that she would resume her flights from 1 p.m.

This eruption has not made any casualties at this stage, but caused enormous damage and resulted in the evacuation of more than 6,000 people, some of whom saw their homes completely swallowed up.

Nearly 500 buildings were destroyed by the lava that covers more than 212 hectares, including many banana plantations, according to data from the European geospatial measurement system Copernicus.

The two previous eruptions in La Palma took place in 1971 and 1949. They killed a total of three, two of them by gas inhalation.

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